ic,6 



fHE TiidPlCAL AGRICULTUI^IST. 



[April. 1, if 



COFFEE AND TEA. 



and their 

 auy way 



Tea auJ coffee both contain tlie same allialoid 

 action is almost iucieutical. Do they differ in 

 and if ho how ? 



To answer tiiis question I must invite your attention 

 to the foUowiug analyses of tea and coffee.* 



Coffee. 

 AYater ... ... 12-000 



Cellulose ... ... 34-000 



Caffeiu ... ... O'SOO 



Nitrogenous matters excluding 



Tea. 



11-49 



20-30 



1-35 



21-22 



23-8S 



12-3G 



3-62 



0-67 



5-U 



100-000 100 00 ^ 



Looking at these two analyses there are certain points 

 which at once strike us. First in equal weights there is 

 more alkaloid in tea than in coffee, and nearly 21 times 

 as much tannic acid. 



Coffee on the other hand contains four times as much 

 fatty matter as tea. 



The absolute analysis, however, as conducted in a 

 chemical laboratory, is only a partial guide to the dietetic 

 value of an article, "\A^e, as consumers, are mainly inter 

 ested in those matters which .are soluble in water. 



Now Konigf estimates that in an infusion of coffee we 

 get 25'5 per cent of the coffee used, whereas in an in- 

 fusion of tea we get 33-ti4 of the tea used, and that 

 these percentages are thus constituted. 



Alkaloid 

 Nitrogenous matter 



Non-nitrogenous matter j q< 



Ash 



1-7-1 



14-52 1 

 5-18j 

 4-06 



1-3.5 

 9-44 



19-20 



3-65 



25-50 33-C4 



It will observed that the amount of alkaloid found in 

 the tea infusion represents the total amount in the tea. 

 The amount of alkaloid in the coffee infusion is rather 

 more than double the total given in Payen's aualysi* 

 Coffees, however, differ immensely in the amount of con- 

 tained alkaloid, and this well marked discrepeucy between 

 the analyses of two chemists will serve to impress the 

 fact of variabihty in quality very forcibly on the mind J 

 We have not yet exhausted this question of dietetic 

 value as tested by analysis, and the most important ques- 

 tion of all remains to be answered. What is the relative 

 dietetic value of a cup of tea as compared with a cup of coft'eo ? 

 Konig has attempted to answer this question. For 

 making coffee infusion a much greater weight of material 

 is used than in the case of tea. 



Kiinig assumes that to make what he calls a "portion" 

 of coffee fifteen grams (a little over h.alf an ounce) of 

 coffee is used, and that of tlicso fifteen grams, 3-82 are 

 dissolved in tlie water. To make a " portion" of tea f> 

 grams are used, and of these 5 grams, I'OS are dissolved 

 in the water : — 



Cup of OoFrEE. 

 Alkaloid ... ... ... 0-26 gr.ams : 



OU ... ... ... 0-7S „ 



Non-nitrogenous matter ... 21/ ,, 



Ash ... ... ... 0-61 



3 82 „ 



* According to a statement emancing from Brazil (Le 



Brhil « V Ej:j>o.i!iion il' Jmstcnhm) the Brazilian cofl'ecs 



are very rich in Caffeine, and from an analysis recently 



made by Ludwig of ViiMuia, the amount appears to vary 



from 1-1 6 to 1-75 percent (See Church's Analysis page 6.) 



t Die .Tfr I) sell 11 dun Xiihntii(js-und Geiiiifsm!!tit,lierVm,lSSO. 



J An analysis of Brazilian coft'ee by Professor Church, 



dated M.ay IDth, 1S82, gives the following results:— 



Water ... ... ... ... 11-22 



Oil and fat 14-27 



Matters soluble in w.ater ... ... 24-87 



Albuminoid ... ... ... ... 0-06 



Caffeine ... ... ... •■ 118 



Ash 351 



Ctip OF Tea. 

 Alkaloid 

 Proteid 



Non-nitrogenous matter 

 Ash 



007 grams : 

 0-t7 „ 

 o-ye „ 



0-18 „ 

 1-08 



It would be rash to assume that the analyses are absol- 

 utely correct, but they are recent and they emanate from 

 Germany which is pat- excellence the land of accm-acy. 



It follows from these analyses that, supposing all the 

 dissolved matter to be available for the needs of the body 

 the dietetic value of a cup of coffee is more than twice 

 that of a cup of tea, and if wo assume that the stimulat- 

 ing power is due to the contained alkaloid, then qua 

 stiimdaiit the cup of coffee has more than three times 

 the value of the cup of tea. 



Further, Binz observes in the third edition of his Ele- 

 ments of TherajieiUics that " the alkaloid which tea con- 

 tains appears to be less easily absorbed than that of 

 coffee owing to the very lai-gc quantity of tannic acid - 

 in-esent." 



The tannic acid in tea is doubtless one of the causes 

 why it is as a drink so attractive. It is slightly astringent 

 and clean in the month," and does not " cloy the palate," 

 an expression for which I can tiud no scientific equivalent. 

 Tannic acid is also one of the dangers and drawbacks of 

 tea. It is largely present in the common teas used by 

 the poor. Now the rich man who wishes to avoid au excess 

 of tannic acid in the "cup that cheers" does not allow the 

 water to stand on the tea for more than five, or at most 

 eight minutes, and the resulting beverage is aromatic, not too 

 astringent and wholesome. The poor man or poor woman 

 allows the tea to simmer on the hob for indefinite periods 

 with the result th,at a highly astringent and unwholesome 

 beverage is obtained. There can be no doubt that the 

 habit of drinking excessive quantities of strong astringent 

 tea is a not uncommon cause of that atonic dyspepsia, 

 which seems to be the rule rather than the exception 

 among poor women of the class of semjjstresses. 



Tea more nearly approaches to a pure beverage? than 

 coffee does. Coffee makes a very slight approach to the 

 class of liquid foods. 



The specific gravity of good tea is about 1,003, and 

 of a cup of good coffee about 1,009. 



Excessive tea-drinkers are more common than excessive 

 cofTee-drinkers, because the heavier coffee more easily 

 produces satiety than the lighter tea, and it is not pos- 

 sible for ordinary stomachs to tolerate more than a cert- 

 ain amount of coffee, even ,vhen pure, and only a very 

 small amount of the thick, sweet adulterated stuff which 

 too often passes for coffee in this country. — Fivm Dr. 

 Poore's pa-pcr on Coffee and Tea. 



THE TEA ENTEKPRIZE IN JAVA. 



Our Ceylon readers will see, from the folloiviug ex- 

 tract from the Strnils Times, that tea culture in 

 the great Dutch Colony is placed under many disad- 

 vantages : — 



( Tranxlatedfrov. Jai^a Nciusprqvrs.) 



The disadvantages of tea-growing in Java are thus 

 set forth in a petition to the Second Chamber of the 

 States General by several leading tea-dealers in Holland 

 against additional import taxation on that article : — 



"The undersigned having great interest in tea, owing 

 to their direct imijonatioiis of that article from ,7ava into 

 Amsterdam and Itotterdani, most respectfully bring under 

 notice that both with surprize and regret they have heard 

 of the proposal made by the Jlinister of Finances to raise 

 the import iltity on tea in the Netherlanils from the ex- 

 cessively high rate cif 25 guilders per H^O kilogranuues, at 

 which it now stauds in our tariff', to the amount of 40 

 guilders. Our surprize on hearing of it arose from the 

 same suggestion having twice before been brought forward 

 by former administrations, l>ut each time it i)rovod fruit- 

 less owing to strong representations from Jav.-v and the 

 Netherlands against the scheme, while the iin.seut pro- 



